this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Anarchism
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Yep... I remember that - the little shit was masquerading as a "concerned anarchist" while using Stalinist tactics to harass their critics off the sub - and then started Raddle essentially to have an entire leftist forum for them to play overlord with.
I abandoned r/anarchism pretty much at that time - arguing with right-wingers is a shit-ton easier than dealing with two-faced imposters like that.
edit: For the record, I feel I have to add that it wasn't actually this useless litle fucker's activity that drove me off r/anarchism - it was my disappointment at the fact that the mods couldn't spot their shitfuckery and come up with a way to deal with it when I've seen other mod teams manage it.
this all checks out, I was never on r/anarchism but I've tried to go on raddle numerous times over the years, and every time i basically just leave in disgust because there's so little nuance or good faith and if you aren't completely down there their particular particular green-nihilist tendency you basically get treated like an enemy -- not that I'm even against that tendency, but there's many kinds of anarchism. And the mod(s? was it ever more than one person?) they were always having some public meltdown or being viciously attacked by people who they could have just banned ( or were they talking to themselves? ) It just always gives the place a spooky vibe, deep web forums are less paranoia inducing.
Quite honestly it's difficult to tell whether it was all just an army of sock accounts or if this user (still going as ziq over on raddle) had actually managed to recruit some loyal followers into their weird little purity-testing cult or something. Either way, it's pretty fucked up.
But it did teach me an important lesson, though... any online space dedicated to leftists is going to inevitably attract these dangerous and toxic Napoleon-types (yes, I am naming them after the pig in Animal Farm - I'm going there) - people whose "leftism" only consists of that which facilitates their megalomania and who has the time and resources available to them to subvert those very spaces. It really explains why tankies have such a toxic presence online. Leftists should never fool themselves into assuming that someone understanding leftist theory automatically means they are acting in good faith.
So I don't get too heavily invested in leftist-only spaces - I prefer being out there engaging people and doing counter-propaganda. It just feels a whole lot more productive.